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Middle East conflict

Iran tells US it does not want Palestinian-Israeli conflict to escalate — top diplomat

"Over the past 40 days, messages have been exchanged between Iran and the US, via the US interests section at the Swiss embassy in Tehran," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian added

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian Issei Kato/Pool Photo via AP

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian

© Issei Kato/Pool Photo via AP

LONDON, November 17. /TASS/. The Iranian authorities have informed the United States through diplomatic channels that they do not want the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to escalate, the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said.

"In response to the US, we said that Iran does not want the war [between Israel and Hamas] to spread, but due to the approach adopted by the US and Israel in the region, if the crimes against the people of Gaza and the West Bank are not stopped, any possibility could be considered, and a wider conflict [in Gaza] could prove inevitable," he told the Financial Times.

"Over the past 40 days, messages have been exchanged between Iran and the US, via the US interests section at the Swiss embassy in Tehran," the top diplomat said. According to the newspaper, he ruled out the possibility of direct talks between Tehran and Washington.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.

Earlier, Iran's permanent mission to the UN told Reuters that Tehran would not engage in direct conflict with Jerusalem unless Israel attacked the country.

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Middle East conflict

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